Category Archives: AP Computer Science Principles

This is only a test…

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By Denelson83 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1067498

I don’t like tests.  As a student, they gave me a lot of anxiety since I’m not a good test taker.  Now, as a teacher, they still give me anxiety since I feel for the students who are like me and I worry that I’ve created a good/fair test.  So what do I do?  For my AP Computer Science Principles course, I must give tests in order to give them the practice they need for their AP test in May.  Although preparing for the AP exam is a great goal, most of all I want my students to be curious, feel confident, and use failure as a guide (not an end).

Thinking about the types of “tests” we have in our lives outside of school, I realize that it’s seldom/never that we have to solve a problem without any resources (other people, the internet, books, etc.).  So, twice last semester, I gave my students a test and allowed/encouraged them to use whatever resources they had available.  Oh how I wish I would have filmed what happened during this class period.  My students had no option but to be fully engaged.  They began by looking through the questions and seeing what they could answer on their own, then they collaborated with others to come up with what they believed to be the correct answer.  One would think that some students would just fish for answers; however, this was not the case.  Students were using the whiteboards to share their thought process and in some cases teach the other students.

Giving this type of test allowed me to challenge my students with more difficult questions.  As I walked around the classroom, I could interact with students – asking them why they selected a specific answer and having them practice their confidence when I questioned their decision.

As I’m writing this, I realize I should have created a survey to gather student feedback on their experiences with our “open-book” tests.  Luckily I have next semester…

Am I doing my students a disservice?

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I’m not an “AP teacher”; however, I currently teach four AP Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) courses.  Is this just a case of imposter syndrome?  Should I even be saying (writing) this out loud?  What do I mean?

As we know, the College Board AP Exam is a standardized test.  For AP CSP, students have two performance tasks (that we do in class) and a 74 question multiple choice test. (Can I tell you that it really bothers me that it’s not 75 questions?)  The test is set for Friday, May 10.  There are no opportunities for extensions, and no second chances, this is a one-shot-deal.

What’s the problem?  This in not how I teach/run my class.  We practice AP test questions and students take multiple choice unit tests, but I do let them re-take their tests.  (That doesn’t feel very “AP” of me.) Does this mean I’m doing my students a disservice? Am I not holding them to the standards that I “should”?  I’m not doing this to save myself time (it usually makes for more work, actually), or win some popularity contest.  I do this because my primary goal of this course is for my students to learn, and I feel like, in this instance, they are learning more by facing their mistakes and re-taking a test rather than walking away and trying to “make up” the points in some other way.  Honestly, I don’t care about the points – I just want them to learn.  Facing their mistakes and grappling with a concept is learning – shame, beating themselves up, negative self-talk, and/or ignoring the mistakes is not learning.

Will they all get 5’s on the AP exam?  Probably not.  If they perform like my students did last year, over 80% will pass.  I’m happy with that (because I know it’s important to them).  However, I am confident that all of them will leave AP CSP knowing more than they do today, and many of them will want to explore more computer science classes in the future.  Aside from curriculum, I also hope they leave with more willingness/courage to figure things out and to try something new.  And, I hope they will also know that I really cared and that I was “on their side”.

(Are you, too, suffering from Imposter Syndrome?  Check out this TEDtalk by Lou Solomon.  Believe it or not, even Maya Angelou felt like an imposter, “I have written eleven books, but each time I think, ‘uh oh, they’re going to find out now. I’ve run a game on everybody, and they’re going to find me out.”)

I feel another blog post coming on …